What does everyone suggest I purchase with it? I am going slow, re-learning basics and developing technique. My goal for 2005 is personalized Christmas Stockings by December, but I have yet to knit a sock. Any suggestions?

There are many good books for beginners. Knitting for Dummies is my favorite. A lot of people swear by the Vogue Book of Knitting. I'd suggest browsing through several at the bookstore or even test drive them by checking them out of the library and see which one fits your style of learning.

I agree with kekokat. The Sally Melville books are outstanding--even if you don't like the patterns in the books (which I don't particularly) they are indispensible for their instructional value. Where most knitting books will show you two or three diagrams, Sally's books show you 7 or 8 very clear photos that not only show you where your needles should go, but frame by frame how they got there.

I think the first Stitch N beach book is great. Several of my LYS owners agree that the instructions are among the best they've seen.

When I start relearning knitting, the Vogue Book was my best resource.

Also (a teeny shameless plug) you might want to check out The Art of Knitting DVD. It's a great teaching tool and helped me lots. I think it's a great addition to any knitting library. FYI, Volume 2 which is being released early next year, will have complete sock lessons with Nancie Wiseman.

I would be nowhere without my Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitting Without Tears. It's not so much the technique, but how to be a fearless knitter... it's invaluable to me....

"Choose your friends by their character and your socks by their color. Choosing your socks by their character makes no sense, and choosing your friends by their color is unthinkable."http://RoseByAny.BlogSpot.Com

I really like The Big Book of Knitting, by Katerina Buss. It's not an instruction book, but is a great reference book. It covers all different levels from beginner to expert and has great photos to illustrate techniques. (Thanks to "of Troy" for suggesting this to me.)

Meg

There's two sides to everything. One woman's knit is another woman's purl.

I think Sally Melville's books are great- The Kntting experience "the Knit Stitch" and "the Purl Stitch"- great pictures, good explanations and if you ever get to take a class from her- She's wonderful!

I would agree that the first Stitch -N- beach book is good. It has helped me quite a bit. I would also recommend a few websites that have video clips on how to do certain stitches. I mean, books are great, but the pictures can sometimes only go so far before you start asking yourself "Are they doing what I think that they're doing?" <--- Gee, I sound like a mom that just walked in on their teenager (and we all know that that could mean any number of things...)

Go to the library. Try to preview anythng you might want to buy. I've been sorely disappointed in almost every book I 've bought without seeing it first. Books, like anything else, are a personal choice. Where some would swear by Vogue, I swear at them. They cofuse me about things I already understand. Can't make head nor tail out of their writing.

So, check for yourself. Also, Clara wrote an article on should-have books for the well rounded knitter (sorry, don't have the link).

Hi everyone! Newbie here...My experience with knitting instruction books hasn't been all that pleasant until I picked up "stitch'n beach"...now the things that confused me aren't so confusing anymore. I saw that a few others in here suggested it too. I'm even going to try cableing (sp) very soon. I like how its so clearly explained. I'm selling my other books on Amazon...lol. (more money for yarn!!)

I'm partial to Maggie Righetti's Knitting in Plain English (and for later, Sweater Design in Plain Engish), simply because I taught myself from these books. I really like Maggie's way of talking about knitting, and while she doesn't necessarily provide loads of diagrams, she's a lot of fun to read. You might like her stuff in addition to something like "The Knit Stitch" or "Stitch and beach". She has a lot of really good common sense pointers for things, and she handholds you through the processes of learning increases, decreases, short rows, following stitch patterns, reading abbreviations, and gives some great hints for just about every aspect of knitting from picking out yarn to keeping track of lace knitting to caring for a finished knitted garment. I found her "Sweater Design in Plain English" to be a really fun way to learn about designing my own sweaters.

So, there's my two bits. You can always get things from the library and then buy whichever one (or two or three) which you like best.